Is the Serbian Orthodox Church inciting hatred in BiH?

The Serbian Orthodox Church has shocked the public in Bosnia and Herzegovina after issuing a statement on Monday demanding that the City of Doboj withdraw its membership from the Union of Municipalities of the Turkic World, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

The clergy of the Doboj archdeaconry of the Zvornik-Tuzla Eparchy has requested that the Mayor of Doboj, Obren Petrović, withdraw the decision on membership in the Union of Municipalities of the Turkic World.

The Turkish government provided significant aid to the citizens of Doboj during the floods that submerged the city. Several months later, Doboj was admitted to the Union of Municipalities of the Turkic World, and the city authorities expected that this could also attract new investors to the city.

The Church called the decision to admit Doboj to the Union of Municipalities of the Turkic World, which is a non-governmental organization and whose membership carries no obligations, a betrayal of the Serbian people.

Analysts warn that this is not the first time the SOC has incited hatred among the peoples of BiH.

During the Serbian aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, the SOC encouraged soldiers who committed the most horrific crimes in BiH during the conflict.

Retired Bishop of the SOC, Vasilije Kačavenda, often met with the Army of Republika Srpska General Ratko Mladić and the then President of Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadžić, who is now on trial before the International Court in The Hague for the most horrific crimes in BiH, during the conflict in BiH. Kačavenda encouraged Mladić and Karadžić that what they were doing was good for the Serbian people.

Archpriest of the Orthodox Church, Rajko Cvjetković, from Višegrad, recently admitted to local media that during the conflict in Višegrad in 1992, volunteers from Russia fought on the side of the Serbian army against Bosniaks, describing this act as magnificent.

In an interview with local media, Cvjetković also announced a third world war, in which Russians will come again and unite the Serbian people and Orthodox countries. He quoted the words of the war criminal Radovan Karadžić, who said that the Russian bell is large, and it is difficult to silence it, but when it starts to ring, it rings for a long time.

Photographs from the parading of Chetniks in Višegrad in mid-March 2015 also show a religious figure actively participating in the parading of an organization responsible for tens of thousands of crimes against non-Serb populations from World War II to the present day.

Metropolitan of the SOC, Amfilohije Radović, is also known for inciting hatred towards non-Serb peoples. In August last year, he praised the genocide against Bosniak Muslims of Old Montenegro that occurred at the turn of the 17th to the 18th century, specifically in 1711, on Christmas Eve.

That night, what some Orthodox Christians call an "investigation of the Turks" was carried out. Approximately 1,000 Muslims were killed, which is how many, according to authoritative evidence, lived in the area of Old Montenegro at that time, which consisted of only four districts with their seat in Cetinje. Those who were not killed fled to Nikšić and the village of Tuđemile near Bar.

Speaking about this event at an Ilindan gathering, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro called followers of Islam "false people with a false faith," and their teachings "spiritual death.".